A King County jury was split over whether a Seattle police officer perceived a threat when he shot and killed a woodcarver John T. Williams at a downtown street corner.

Answering 13 questions as part of a proceeding that carries no legal weight,the inquest jury was also split over whether Williams actually posed an imminent threat to Seattle Officer Ian Birk on Aug. 30.

Four of the eight jurors said they believed Birk thought Williams posed a threat. Four couldn't determine whether he did.

Only one juror believed that Williams actually posed a threat. Four said he didn't, and three said they couldn't determine.

Birk's daylight shooting of Williams sparked controversy and demands by the homeless carver's supporters that the officer be charged with murder.

The slaying was the most publicized of a series of violent interactions between Seattle police and citizens that has prompted the ACLU to call for a federal investigation of the department.

Since the inquest began Jan. 10, witnesses to the shooting testified that Williams -- a heavy drinker who had mental health problems, according to family members -- wasn't threatening the officer and that Birk may have fired in haste. Birk, however, maintained that he feared for his life and had to shoot Williams.

The inquest is not a criminal proceeding. The eight jurors were asked to find whether the shooting was justified, but their finding will have no immediate impact. It now goes for review by the King County Prosecutor.

Among other findings, none of the jurors thought Williams' knife was open when Birk fired. Four found it wasn't and four said they didn't know.

Five of the eight jurors decided Williams was not partially turned towards Birk when the officer opened fire, while two said he was and one didn't know.

Four jurors also said Williams didn't have enough time to put the knife down. One said he did, and three said they didn't know.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said he expects to finish his review of the case by mid-February.

Birk's attorney, Ted Buck, said malice must be shown for the officer to be charged. Anyone who saw Birk testify knew he had no malice in his heart that day, his attorney said.

A department source told seattlepi.com that Birk turned in his gun and badge, but is still an officer on administrative leave.

Buck said he's not aware of the officer's job being in jeopardy.

"Many of you have seen him. He's a diligent, very thoughtful, careful young man and, yes, he wants to continue his service."

Family, supporters wants to see officer charged

Speaking after the inquest, Williams' older brother, Rick, said his late brother didn't have enough time to react. He also asked how someone could fear a carver walking down the street -- something the Williams brothers had done in Seattle for years.

He questioned how the decision to shoot could have been made so quickly, and became angry when a reporter asked why he wants to see Birk prosecuted.

"My granddaughter said to me, 'To protect and serve them.'" Rick Williams said. "'Grandpa, as I see it it's protect and shoot people like me.'"

An attorney for the Williams' family, Andrea Brenneke, said the family plans to honor John. T. Williams by creating a large pole in a design that he created "so the city of Seattle can embrace him and heal from this whole event."

Rick Williams said the family was asked if they could share the family story, and that the pole would be put somewhere in Seattle. Another family attorney, Connie Sue Martin, said they wanted it funded by anyone who wanted to contribute.

Rick Williams said people have approached him, saying they're not sure how he composes himself in the months since his brother was shot. He said he still talks to police officers.

"Now I walk up and say, 'How are you today? I don't hate you all,'" he said. "I just feel bad for the decision that youngster made."

After the inquest, he also approached a woman who had been vocal in support of John T. Williams and told her to stop after she yelled for justice. The woman also had cheered in the overflow courtroom where the jury results were displayed simultaneously on a large screen. Williams, who told her that the carver was his brother, has most often been the family spokesman and has been protective of his family.

Speaking of the jury's findings, Brenneke said: "I can't say anyone's pleased with this process or these findings because this situation is so tragic. I think what we can say is that this jury considered the evidence and they were engaged.

"And in terms of the process that exists, we're pleased that it's over and that the findings are consistent with what we understand, which was that Mr. Williams was walking along the street with the tools of his trade as a carver and as no threat to anyone."

Defense: jurors didn't see full picture

Buck said he thought the jurors used hindsight to determine Williams was drunk when he was shot to death and that he couldn't fully understand the situation -- something the officer didn't know when he fired. The video, Buck said, showed Williams had ample time to put the knife down during the confrontation with the officer.

"Four seconds is an eternity in a deadly force scenario," Buck said.

While he called the inquest an admirable processing and admired the jurors, Birk's attorney said inquest jurors were put in an impossible position, trying to determine Williams' mindset. He also said jurors didn't get the full picture of Williams.

Multiple police videos from early August 2010, the same month Williams was shot, show the carver appearing drunk. Police in some cases dealt with him because people complained.

In one case, at Dick's Drive-In on Capitol Hill, Williams is recorded swearing at an officer and saying "I'll (expletive) kill you, all you police force." Watch the video here.

Inquest jurors didn't hear about that threat, and Buck said it could have swayed their opinion about Williams.

"We're never going to know if Mr. Williams intended to carry out on his threats from several days before to kill police officers of if he was simply drunk and slow in responding that day."

In court Tuesday, Buck, asked Rick Williams if he was aware his late brother "was increasingly psychotic in his behavior." After an objection from the Williams' family attorney, the question wasn't asked again or answered.

On Sept. 1, 2010 -- two days after Williams was shot to death -- Rick Williams told seattlepi.com that his late brother "just snapped" one day and threw a man through a plate-glass window. He spent time at Western State Hospital, a mental hospital near Lakewood.

"They gave him medications they shouldn't have," Rick Williams said Sept. 1. "They pumped him full of pills and he would hear voices in his head until the end of his days."

The time at Western State and the voices he heard hurt Williams for years, his older brother said.

"If you look at the carvings he made a few years back and the ones he did later, you would never think they were from him," Rick Williams said Sept. 1.

Rick Williams said after the inquest that his brother was deaf and had poor eyesight. Early in the inquest, the lead Seattle police homicide detective said under questioning from Buck that investigators found no documentation of John Williams being hard of hearing.

Inquest jurors only saw a slice of the overall picture, Buck said. "All of that kind of information will be appropriate in any subsequent proceeding -- a civil lawsuit, if one comes up -- and I think that jurors will have a different outlook."

Inquest lasted eight days

Several witnesses testified that Williams wasn't threatening Birk, and some said they thought Birk acted more aggressively than they would have expected in that situation.

During the inquest, the Williams' family attorney, Tim Ford, continually pointed out that no witnesses reported seeing Williams threaten or attack anyone on Aug. 30. Birk's attorney, Ted Buck, countered that no witness had a clear view or recollection of everything that happened.

Nancy Bushman, who was near Boren Avenue and Howell Street on the day of the shooting, testified that Williams didn't appear aggressive.

"He seemed very well-behaved and like a normal pedestrian, just walking as I was," Bushman said during the fifth day of testimony. "So I didn't hardly have any reason to look any more carefully."

Barbara Newman, who saw the incident from her car going southbound on Howell Street, testified Thursday that Birk raised his gun before Williams turned, and said she didn't witness aggressive behavior.

Newman also said she never saw Williams turn to face Birk and never saw him take a step toward the officer. Birk testified that Williams glanced back once, then turned with an aggressive posture that he believed indicated that he was going to attack.

Being questioned by Buck, Newman acknowledged she was moving her attention from the officer to Williams during the incident, and said it was possible she could have not seen the actions of one man while looking at the other.

Buck, trying to question the accuracy of witness accounts, pointed out that no witnesses clearly saw a knife in Williams' hand. He also pointed out that some witnesses didn't hear Birk yell, which is audible on the footage from Birk's patrol car video.

At the inquest last week, Birk said John Williams didn't look confused, didn't put his hands up and didn't show any sign he would comply the officer's order to drop the knife. The officer told the court he didn't think Williams' initial look back was a sign of compliance, and that it would have been a stretch for Williams to place the knife on a nearby wall. He said he was left with no other reasonable alternative but defending himself.

"I utilized all the time I felt that I had," said Birk, 27. "But the situation escalated certainly more quickly than I could have known or predicted."

Ford pointed out that the officer was wearing sunglasses that day. Ford also questioned why the knife was found closed on the ground.

Last week, lead case detective Jeffrey Mudd of the police homicide unit said a second knife fell from Williams' right jacket pocket when investigators were looking for his identification. Mudd said that knife also was found closed.

Seattle Fire Department Lt. Lisa Barron testified last week that she was "positive" she saw a knife open near Williams' body. "It did surprise me that the knife was closed, having just seen Mr. Williams holding a knife open in his hand," Birk said Wednesday. "I have no idea how that knife was closed, if that was the knife I saw initially or not."